Cooking tips & tricks with a baby ( or two ) in tow
by Lisa Seltzer
know the feeling – after a day that ’ s
I dictated by your baby ’ s nap and feeding times , a day where you may have been covered in Vegemite-smeared hands , been accidentally head butted in the face by your toddler , and also not managed to get a single item of washing dry because of the incessant rain , the last thing you feel like doing is cooking .
But it ’ s impossible to exist on toast seven days a week , take away food is expensive and actually , cooking can be quite fun sometimes ( usually when everyone in the family actually eats what you ’ ve cooked !).
Here are some useful tips for cooking and preparing food while you ’ re at home with the kids .
Use nap times for food prep When you ’ re a new mum , people often say “ sleep when the baby sleeps ”. To these people I say – are you kidding ?! I was blessed ( hmm …) with two babies who after the first few weeks rarely napped for longer than 20 minutes at a time and so napping wasn ’ t an option for me . Instead , I would throw on a load of washing , chop some vegies for a stir fry and bang them in the fridge for later , then down a cup of tea and we ’ re off again . If your baby sleeps for several hours at a time , you ’ ve got time to do some food preparation AND have a nap . Lucky you ! Now my 4 year-old watches ABC for Kids while the baby naps and I can food prep .
Make preparing food and cooking an activity you can do with the kids If you do actually nap when your baby naps , well … try not to brag about it at mother ’ s group . When everyone ’ s awake , put the baby in a bouncer or a high chair , give them a toy or something to stare at and you can get to it . I now involve my 4 year-old in cooking – he pours and stirs ( with supervision obviously ) and loves
to help . As babies get older and wander around more , I find the plastics drawer is amazing – it ’ s like heaven to babies and toddlers . Open it and see them examine and ‘ play ’ with all your Tupperware !
Chop necessary ingredients in the morning I am an avid fan of this strategy and food prep any other time is almost impossible ( witching hour at 4.30pm anyone ?). I prepare the pre-schooler ’ s lunch , toddler ’ s lunch and prepare as much for dinner as I can all at the same time . As my toddler wakes at 5am , I have plenty of time in the morning , but if your kids sleep in it ’ s well worth getting up 30 mins before they ’ re up to do this . I ’ ve got a good system going now , and it feels pretty normal to chop carrots , zucchinis and chicken at 6.30am . Never thought I ’ d ever say those words .
Use a slow cooker The slow cooker has been a revelation to me . Mine sat in the back of the cupboard until I was pregnant and everyone was telling me once I used it I ’ d never look back , so I blew off the dust and tried making a chilli con carne . Success ! Then I tried a beef and red wine casserole . Success ! In fact , nothing I ’ ve done in the slow cooker has ever been a failure . The concept is perfect for busy mums – throw the ingredients in in the morning , 8-10hrs later come home to a house smelling of amazingness and you have a delicious home-cooked meal . There are some awesome websites entirely devoted to slow cooker recipes , so find your favourites and embrace it .
Be realistic about what you cook You ’ ve got kids , so it ’ s probably not going to be possible to make a complicated risotto mid-week . Save the elaborate meals for weekends . Stick to vegies ( frozen are great and so convenient ) and a protein , soups , stews or pastas that can be made in big batches so you ’ ve got something in the freezer for crazy days .
Find extremely generous family & friends who invite you over for dinner Everyone ’ s super helpful when you first give birth , bringing food with them when they visit ( well , the good visitors do anyway ), but weeks and months afterwards , the freezer supplies start drying up and you ’ re faced with having to learn how to multi-task , babe in arms . Why not forego this entirely and cosy up to your parents every Sunday for a roast , or start raving about how you LOVE your best friend ’ s homemade quiche . It may work for a while !
And if in doubt , there ’ s always eggs on toast .
Lisa is a freelance social media manager , working with clients to engage customers via social media platforms including Facebook , Twitter , Instagram and LinkedIn . Lisa has a degree in Marketing and a Diploma of Counselling , with a background in marketing for the publishing industry . She started freelancing in social media in 2015 after having her first child .
36 KIDZ ON THE COAST